WINNIPEG – How long would it take 120 students to walk from Russell, Man. to the Ontario border?
According to Linda Baker, a teacher at the kindergarten to Grade 9 school in Binscarth, Man., it takes eight days.
Two weeks ago, the students finished what seems like an incredible journey to celebrate Manitoba’s 125th birthday. Starting May 4, they each kept track of how many kilometres they walked, and plotted them along the Yellowhead and TransCanada highways on a road map of the province.
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Baker said she borrowed a few ideas to create the Walk Manitoba project, combining physical education, geography, history and food lessons into one big adventure.
“I still haven’t convinced the kindergarten and Grade 1 (students) that we did it. They say, ‘Well, we didn’t walk to Russell and we didn’t walk to Foxwarren,’ so they’re still working on the idea,” Baker said.
She thought it would take most of May to make the 530-kilometre trek, but the younger children in the school were quite enthusiastic and did a lot of walking. “We were just lopping this off so fast that it kind of got out of control,” Baker laughed.
The walk culminated in a party held in the gym, where kids competed to win Manitoba food products. They wrote Manitoba cheers, were quizzed on grains and animals and even tackled drawing the flag with its difficult buffalo.
Baker said the students will continue to learn about the history of the province throughout the anniversary year. Around Thanksgiving, she’s planning a Manitoba food fair for the community with the help of a local home economist.
And she said the trek went over so well that she wants to try it again next year.
“I think next year we’re going to walk from Churchill most likely to Boissevain or something. We’ll do north to south, so we’ll have to dress for the weather.”
